Post by Matt Pulver on Dec 2, 2023 10:15:52 GMT
September 14th 2023
"Is this just my life now?"
Matt Pulver splashes some cold water into his armpits from the rain water barrel. The accommodations at El Chiflado's ranch have never been glamorous - and they don't need to be - but this time it was different. It wasn't too bad though, he can stomach sleeping on a pile of blankets by the hen house and washing himself with rain water. It's the isolation that's getting to him.
When he returned to Bolivia, he thought it would be like coming home - and at first, it was. All the farmhands and students - new and old - welcomed him back with smiles and open arms. But when he approached El Chiflado, sitting in his chair on the porch, his old maestro simply looked up from his tea and said with his raspy voice "Aquí no hay trabajo para ti. Regresa." And that was the last time he even looked Matt's way.
For the next two weeks, Matt get no work assigned, is not allowed to join training sessions and is otherwise ignored by his maestro. He figures it was one of the old man's tests. After all, he had to work in the nearby village for months before Chiflado finally opened the doors for him the first time. Other aspiring trainees have to endure even longer before being accepted - and some never do.
But this was something else. This time Matt was actually let onto the ranch, he's just not allowed to do much. He gets to eat all meals, he's just not allowed to sit with everyone else. He still has a roof over his head - he just has to sleep in the shack connected to the hen house.
After Matt's washed himself and gotten dressed, one of the most senior farmhands, Héctor, sneaks towards the hen house with a bowl of queso humacha.
In his 50's, Héctor is the oldest man on the farm next to El Chiflado - who might be double that age, no one's really sure - and while he cant work as hard as the younger farmhands, he instead acts as a father figure to them. This includes Matt.
Even though anyone on the ranch who's caught talking to Matt will receive the same silent treatment from Chiflado as him, Héctor makes sure to sneak him food and a few friendly words whenever he can. He's the reason Matt's only company isn't hens.
He hands Matt the bowl of soup, and before Matt can even thank him, Héctor also hands him a letter.
Matt reads it, before looking up at Héctor.
"I've been reinstated."
Héctor sits down on a rock in front of him and nods.
"I only know Duke from our brief time in Lion's Road together years ago. But he's still gone through all of this trouble to set up a full schedule of tests and treatments to get me medically cleared again. He's spared no expense. He even wants me to book my own show…
How come this guy I barely know seem to care about me more than my own mentor does?"
Matt used to trust El Chiflado wholeheartedly. The old maestro always seemed to have answers that Matt didn't even know he was looking for. And just when he seemed like a masked old loon who lost his marbles many decades ago, he would hit Matt with the most profound words of wisdom - before going back to being a clueless toddler in the body of a geriatric luchador.
It was strange, but he just couldn't help but trust the method to his madness - but now that trust was fading.
"Héctor... I might go back to the States."
Héctor nods understandingly.
"There's just nothing for me to do here. I can't work, I can't train. All I do is workout by myself and sneak extra food to the hens to occupy myself. How long will this go on? I don't need to wait for the old man to think I'm ready. I don't need him. I have a chance to go back and wrestle now - and I think I'm going to take it."
He sees Héctor's eyes grow large and look at something behind him. As Matt turns around to look, he sees the mischievous eyes of El Chiflado staring back at him. The old man smiles and pinches his cheek.
"Ahora me entiendes. Aquí no hay trabajo para ti, chico gallina. Regresa."
"Is this just my life now?"
Matt Pulver splashes some cold water into his armpits from the rain water barrel. The accommodations at El Chiflado's ranch have never been glamorous - and they don't need to be - but this time it was different. It wasn't too bad though, he can stomach sleeping on a pile of blankets by the hen house and washing himself with rain water. It's the isolation that's getting to him.
When he returned to Bolivia, he thought it would be like coming home - and at first, it was. All the farmhands and students - new and old - welcomed him back with smiles and open arms. But when he approached El Chiflado, sitting in his chair on the porch, his old maestro simply looked up from his tea and said with his raspy voice "Aquí no hay trabajo para ti. Regresa." And that was the last time he even looked Matt's way.
For the next two weeks, Matt get no work assigned, is not allowed to join training sessions and is otherwise ignored by his maestro. He figures it was one of the old man's tests. After all, he had to work in the nearby village for months before Chiflado finally opened the doors for him the first time. Other aspiring trainees have to endure even longer before being accepted - and some never do.
But this was something else. This time Matt was actually let onto the ranch, he's just not allowed to do much. He gets to eat all meals, he's just not allowed to sit with everyone else. He still has a roof over his head - he just has to sleep in the shack connected to the hen house.
After Matt's washed himself and gotten dressed, one of the most senior farmhands, Héctor, sneaks towards the hen house with a bowl of queso humacha.
In his 50's, Héctor is the oldest man on the farm next to El Chiflado - who might be double that age, no one's really sure - and while he cant work as hard as the younger farmhands, he instead acts as a father figure to them. This includes Matt.
Even though anyone on the ranch who's caught talking to Matt will receive the same silent treatment from Chiflado as him, Héctor makes sure to sneak him food and a few friendly words whenever he can. He's the reason Matt's only company isn't hens.
He hands Matt the bowl of soup, and before Matt can even thank him, Héctor also hands him a letter.
Matt reads it, before looking up at Héctor.
"I've been reinstated."
Héctor sits down on a rock in front of him and nods.
"I only know Duke from our brief time in Lion's Road together years ago. But he's still gone through all of this trouble to set up a full schedule of tests and treatments to get me medically cleared again. He's spared no expense. He even wants me to book my own show…
How come this guy I barely know seem to care about me more than my own mentor does?"
Matt used to trust El Chiflado wholeheartedly. The old maestro always seemed to have answers that Matt didn't even know he was looking for. And just when he seemed like a masked old loon who lost his marbles many decades ago, he would hit Matt with the most profound words of wisdom - before going back to being a clueless toddler in the body of a geriatric luchador.
It was strange, but he just couldn't help but trust the method to his madness - but now that trust was fading.
"Héctor... I might go back to the States."
Héctor nods understandingly.
"There's just nothing for me to do here. I can't work, I can't train. All I do is workout by myself and sneak extra food to the hens to occupy myself. How long will this go on? I don't need to wait for the old man to think I'm ready. I don't need him. I have a chance to go back and wrestle now - and I think I'm going to take it."
He sees Héctor's eyes grow large and look at something behind him. As Matt turns around to look, he sees the mischievous eyes of El Chiflado staring back at him. The old man smiles and pinches his cheek.
"Ahora me entiendes. Aquí no hay trabajo para ti, chico gallina. Regresa."